Insulating end post for rail-joint circuits.



TNO'.. 374,206;A

PATENTED DEG' 17, 1907./`

I I `W..BIKAIINS. l INSULATING BND Pos1' FOR RAILv JOINT CIRCUITS.

APPLIQATION FILED uN. as, v19m. `Rmmwn sumas. 1967.

8&7

A I r I v v i lV I I I.

ments in Insulating End mninnnining post Vandlservi lshock or pounding to which the post might UNITED sTATns PATENT onmon i WILLIAM ELLIOTT KARNs, 0F PARKERs LANDING, PENN SYLVANIA.

INSULATING END osr Fos anrrroxr c IncUrrs.

Notsjiazoa LLA @all whom tima concern; I

"fBeit known. t atl', WILLIAM ELLIOTT KARNS, a citizen of the Unitedl States, residingat Parkers. Landin in the county of Armstrong and State ofg Pennsylvania, have invented certainv new and useful Im rove- Posts for'Rai -Joint `Circuits, oie-which the following `is a specilication.

'This ,invention relates lto the subject of electrical conductor insulators', and has spef cial reference to the subject of insulating the ends of track rails in insulated rail joints.

fvTo this end the inventionj contemplates'V a snnple'and practical construction of insulating end post adapted to'be interposed between the contiguous ends of the ad'acent rails in a rail'jomt androviding mea for effectually a construction of insulati end post -whichwlll readily accommodate itself to the con traction and. expansion of the rails, and is sof having a. main indurated or hardened body portion and a yielding or soft tip, the latter eing atthe extreme top edge or ed es .of the to receive and cus 'on any be' subjectedV thereby greatly increasing vthe `life or durabilit thereof as an effective .insulating medium etween the rail ends.

Wlthjhese and many other objects `in view, -whichwillmore readily appear as the nature ofthe invention is better understood, v.the same'consists the novel construction, "combination, and arr .ainater more fully described, illustrated, and

ement of parts herefclaimed. 4

The essential features ofthe invention inwolved in carrying o u't the ob'ects above indicated are necessarily suscepti le to structural modiication without departing from the .sco "of the invention, but a preferred em- .bo 7 en t thereof is shown in l the accompanymg drawings in which- 1 is a side elevation of an insulated 'j oint'embodying the present invention.

1*`igl 2is.a-longitudinal sectional view of the Bpeication of Letters Patent.' Tg, Anpiinnann mea mw, .29. 1907. anni Nn. 354.635. Ranma sentant 2s. ioqserinl No. 394.203.

insulationy at" this point at all ltimes and under all'conditions of service.

Furthermore, the invention contemplates Another vand important object of. the in. -vention -is to providean insulating endpost- Patented Dec. 17, `1 907.

same. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through the center of the 'oint ontheline 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a etail in pers ecti-ve of-the' double form of end ost prefera Fig. 5I is a sectiona single;y formof post or soft tip.

ly employed. perspective view of the embodying the yielding Like references designate correspondingl parts in the several figures of the drawings.

change 'is required in the construction of, in'- sulated joint to which the improved end posts may Vbe applied, so for illustrative purposes there is shown in the drawings a simple In carrying out the present invention, nov

,type of insulated rail j ointl embodying in its organization the service rails 1 and 2, the side joint or angle bars 3, the joint bolts 4, the bolt insulation and the side insulating sheets. 6, whichV latter are vinterposed between therail sides and the side joint plates 3.

the present invention is made of insulating .material of any suitable-,or approved 'character, but preferably'of the plain rubber or rubber and ,canvas compositions'which are usually employed for insulating purposes be-` tween the ends of railsand rail joints. Irre'-l spective of the nature of the insulating material employed, the construction and functions of the improved end post alwaysre- `main the same. i r

One of the preferable and practical forms of the end post is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the drawings and consists of a double or duplex end post body designated in its entirety by the reference letter P and com- The insulating end post contemplated :by

prising a pair of yieldingly separated dupli- I cate insulating strips 7 united at their b ses,

vas at 8, and. upwardly divergent from the latter point, whereby the post body will have a spring action and'thereby serve to hold the opposite members or strips 7 yielding-ly in' contact with the rails ends so as to maintain an effective insulation under all conditions, 'and causing the post to adapt itself to the contraction andexpanson of the rails without losing contact therewith.' v

Each of theseparate insulating, strips or members -7 Ais of a size and designcorrespond-- ing substantially to the size 'and form of the cross section of the rails', so that the end post, when in position, follows the contour or ont* line ofthe rail sections, thus rovidngBa complete and effective end-ins ation. y

reason-ofytln's correspondence inshape'between the-end .post and the rail endsnach..

ably formed by end post strip or member 7 comprises a rail head element 9, a rail base flange element 10, and a narrow connecting web 11 preferably forming an integral part of, and connecting the head and base flange elements 9 and 10. In the duplex or double form the bases lor baseltlanges 1t) of the separate stripsor members 7 are united by vulcanization or other means so long as the strips or members 7 A above their bases are permitted to have a Vspring action and are normally separated for the 'purposes explained.

An important feature of the invention resides in having the' end post body of'l'ess height than the rails so that the tops 'or up- .per edges of the end post will be disposed below the 'running surfaces. of the rails so as to minimize the danger of crushing the post by the pounding of the car Wheels, but to positively protect the post against that result, the inventioninvolves the improved feature of forming the head element 9 of each member 7 with a yielding or soft rubbertip 12. This soft tip 12 isv vulcanizedor otherwise formed on orvtith the harder or indurated portion of the head element 9, but is preferthe process of vulcanization so as to be practically an integral part of the vso post body While at the same time being niaterially softer and sufficiently yielding so as to receive shocks or knocks without injury to the post.

' In Fig. 3 the dotted line 13 indicates the line of separation between the indurated and soft 1 rtions of the end post head, while the different hatching in t-he sectional views accentuate the nat-ure of the soft tip 12. The end post can be used in thesingle form shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and inasmuch as the construction of the single end posteisythe saine as the individual members 7 shown in Fig. 4, similar reference characters l will apply to similar parts.

I claim: L- 1. lAn insulating end post for'rail joints, consisting of an indurated body khaving a soft tip on the head thereof. 2. .An insulating end post for rail joints havin a soft tip. A

3. n insulating end post for rail joints having an integral soft tip.

4.y An insulating end post forrail joints Y i havinga soft tip on the head thereof.

5'. Aninsijilating end post havin element provided with an indurate and a soft. portion. y

l, 6. An insulating end post for'rail joints comprising an indurate body in the'form of the cross sect-ion of the rail having the tip portion of its head formed of relatively soft yielding material.

' a head lportion 7. An insulating end post for raily joints i' end post interposed between the rail endsA andcomprising a spring body having a soft tip andl of less height than the rail sections.

In testimony whereof I hereunto atX my v signature in the presence of two Witnesses. WILLIAM ELLIOTT KARNS. Witnesses:

E. B. HENRY, GEO. G. BENNER. 

